The purpose of the proposed research is to examine how appointed group leaders in an industrial simulation experiment respond to ingratiation and criticism by subordinates under circumstances where a member of the work crew disparages the experimental task. In one variation, the poor attitude exhibited by that member appears to have a negative impact on the morale of remaining members of the work crew, and this situation is seen as constituting a state of group stress. The general design of the research follows the format of an experiment conducted by Kipnis and Vanderveer. It is predicted that under conditions of group stress, as defined above, appointed group leaders would give more pay raises and more favorable performance evaluations to an ingratiating subordinate and fewer pay raises and less favorable performance evaluations to a subordinate who criticizes his superior than under conditions where group stress does not prevail. These predictions are made in accordance with reasoning based on consideration of Korten's model (Korten, D.C. Situational determinants of leadership structure. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1962, 6, 222-235) which states that authoritarian styles of leadership arise in response to high goal structure occasioned by an increase in stress upon the group. Several individual experiments are expected to result from various implications of the general hypothesis stated above.